335. Please hand the following to the ICC
with the request that this protest be passed to the Hanoi regime:

“The United States Government takes an extremely serious view of
the unprovoked attack made by Communist North Vietnamese torpedo
boats on an American naval vessel, the USSMaddox, operating on the high seas in the
Gulf of Tonkin on August 2.

United States ships have traditionally operated freely on the
high seas, in accordance with the rights guaranteed by
international law to vessels of all nations. They will continue
to do so and will take whatever measures are appropriate for
their defense.

The United States Government expects that the authorities of the
regime in North Viet-Nam will be under no misapprehension as to
the grave consequences which would inevitably result from any
further unprovoked offensive military action against United
States forces.”